Article by Barry Sheen
By the year 1978, there had been a substantial number of casualties involving large tankers carrying crude oil. Those casualties occurred in many different parts of the world. They raised many legal problems. But more immediately and, perhaps, more importantly, they raised suddenly and without warning many novel practical problems for professional salvors, who were called upon to use their ingenuity to solve those problems. Salvage masters spend their working lives encountering new problems because no two maritime disasters are identical. Salvage masters would not be successful without the knack or aptitude for adaptation. But it was not ingenuity alone that was required when very large tankers were in distress. Resources on a large scale were needed, and they were needed immediately. Tugs, fire-fighting equipment, chemicals for dispersing oil and equipment for containing it, all the paraphernalia of modern salvors, and, above all, financial resources were needed on a very large scale. Such problems affected, or were likely to affect, professional salvors in all parts of the world. By way of example, and without attempting to give a complete list, I have in mind the following problems:
(1) How to prevent the escape of oil from a damaged ship or to contain it after it has escaped from that ship.
(2) The extent of a salvor's duty to clear up oil which escapes from a ship in distress.
(3) The liability of salvors for errors.
(4) The financial limit of any liability.
(5) The difficult question as to where a damaged tanker shall be taken, when harbourmasters are reluctant to allow a damaged tanker to enter port.
(6) Difficulties arising from the sheer size of the ships in distress.
(7) The possibility of a salvor being engaged under a contract which may result in financial loss.
(8) The amount of the salvors reward when much or most of the cargo has been lost and the ship is badly damaged.
In 1978, I was the Appeal Arbitrator for salvage claims arising under Lloyd's standard form of salvage agreement. In that year I was consulted by a much respected and very responsible representative of the tanker industry, who realized that there was some reluctance on the part of professional salvors to enter into the current standard form of salvage agreement published by the Committee of Lloyd's. He was anxious to find a form of contract which would be readily acceptable to shipowners and to salvors so that no time would be wasted in bargaining about the terms. Subsequently I had a meeting with him at which a representative of the International Salvage Union was present. We were unanimous in thinking that the time had come when all sides of the salvage industry should meet to discuss possible alterations in Lloyd's standard form of agreement. The Committee of Lloyd's authorized me to hold discussions with a view to making recommendations for amendments to that form. The first meeting of the nominated representatives of all interested parties was held in August 1978. A few weeks later, Mr. Justice Brandon, who had been Judge of the Admiralty Court for twelve years, was promoted to the Court of Appeal and I was appointed to the Bench in his place. I could no longer continue as Appeal Arbitrator. I was succeeded as Appeal Arbitrator by Mr. G.R.A. Darling, Q.C., under whose guidance the amendments to Lloyd's form were agreed.
When Donald O'May, Alex Parks, and I were invited to give a paper jointly on salvage and in particular on Lloyd's Form 1980 and salvage conventions, it was decided that I would set the scene by giving an account of what had occurred to stimulate discussions that eventually led both to the amendment of Lloyd's form and to the CMI Convention at Montreal in 1981.
About the Author
Barry Sheen. Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, London.
Citation
57 Tul. L. Rev. 1387 (1983)